‘Japa’ Taking Great Toll On Nigeria’s Health System – MDCN Boss

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), has raised the alarm, saying the continuing exodus (Japa) of Nigerian doctors and other health professionals to foreign countries, has put the nation’s entire health system under great strain.

The MDCN Registrar, Dr Fatima Kyari, drew attention to the disturbing trend on Friday, during a budget interactive session with the Senate Committee on Health.

According to Kyari, the available doctors in the federal government owned hospitals across the country are being over-worked and strained beyond their human capacities.

The Registrar called for increased human and material resources for the health sector, to enable the system expand available medical training facilities to accommodate more doctors and other health professionals.

Kyari said, on the other hand, Japa is a reflection of the quality and competitiveness of Nigerian trained doctors in foreign lands.

She stressed the urgent need for better remuneration and adequate incentives the remaining ones back home, to enable government retain them.

Dr Kyari also called for a review of the registration and licensing procedures for doctors and other health professionals, to encourage those of them in foreign lands to come back home and work in Nigeria.

The MDCN boss also raised concerns over the present centralised housemanship system, saying available facilities cannot accommodate the number of doctors needing them.

She said, “The medical school produces about 6000 doctors every year. But the available facilities for housemanship cannot accommodate more than 4000, so we have about 2000 that the facilities cannot accommodate.”

The Registrar urged the intervention of the Senate Health Committee for the necessary legislation that could co-op private and state owned hospitals in the housemanship system.

This, she said, would enable the system accommodate all the doctors for housemanship as they leave medical school.